“We used to be.”
“It’s been ten, maybe fifteen years since the last time we did something together.”
“So what? We grew up together. My house is right over there.” He points down the road that leads to his house, which snakes in the opposite direction to the city centre. “We were classmates, teammates.”
“Years ago!”
“What’s changed?”
“Everything?”
He leans his arms onto the roof of his car and looks at me. His face hasn’t changed much as all – neither have his mannerisms.
“I don’t know how it works in big cities, Kerry, but here, things don’t change. Whoever we were fifteen or twenty years ago is exactly who we are now.”
I’m not convinced.
“Just relax, okay? You’re home now, with your family. With your oldest friends.”
“Which friends, Tyler?” I ask with a heavy sigh.
“Well, start with me. Then we can see how the rest goes.”
“You know full well that I don’t have a great reputation in this place.”
“Then let’s change that, mate.”
When we step foot insideDom’s, one of the longest-running pubs in town, looking out onto the bay, I realise that I’ve made a huge mistake. Even though no one is staring at me – a fact Tyler has repeated multiple times – I can’t help but feel uncomfortable. He was wrong: I’mnotat home, with my oldest friends. To be honest, I’m not the same person anymore. Maybe, for everyone who stayed here, that’s what happened: time stood still. But my life moved on, and I can’t help but feel like an outsider here.
I sit at a table, hidden from the rest of the pub, and keep my eyes glued firmly to the wooden surface, my cap pulled down over my eyes, as Tyler heads up to the bar to order two pints. I glance quickly around the room, without lifting my head, and realise that everyone is minding their own business, and that they’re all probably too drowsy by this point in the evening to notice yours truly.
“Relax.” Tyler sits down, sliding a pint across the table towards me. I look at it, and tell myself:why not? You’re not on a diet anymore– the same logic I used with the apple tart. So I grab it and lift it to my lips.
“To old friends.”
Tyler lifts his glass and takes a few sips. I throw back a little more, then lean exhaustedly against the backrest of my chair. I start to relax, just as Tyler told me to.
“So have you really given up everything?”
“Did my mother tell you that?”
“No. Your mother told mine that you were going through a bit of a shit time, and that you’re here to sort everything out.”
“Interesting…”
“Word around town is that they kicked you out because you slept with the captain’s daughter – a minor.”
I spit my beer across the table.
“What?!”
“Hey, I didn’t start the rumour.”
“Who the fuck did, then?”
He shrugs. “Not everyone believed it.”
“Did you believe it?”
